Apple of My Eye

 Apple of My Eye

May 7, 2025

Proverbs 7:1-4 (NASB95) 

1 My son, keep my words And treasure my commandments within you. 2 Keep my commandments and live, And my teaching as the apple of your eye. 3 Bind them on your fingers; Write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” And call understanding your intimate friend;

Psalms 17:8-9 (NASB95) 

8 Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me in the shadow of Your wings 9 From the wicked who despoil me, My deadly enemies who surround me.

Zechariah 2:8 (KJV)

Forthus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.

Lamentations 2:18 (KJV)

Their heart cried unto the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thine eye cease.

I ran across an interesting phrase in this morning’s proverb, “Keep… my teaching as the apple of your eye.” So what is the apple of your eye? The translation notes on this verse explain that this means the pupil of your eye. But why is it so important that this phrase is used four times in the Bible? Perhaps it relates to the importance of the eye. Jesus taught on this in Matthew 6:

Matthew 6:22-23 (NASB95) 22 

“The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. 23 “But if your eye is bad, your wholebody will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

If the eye is the lamp of the body, then the apple of your eye is the central feature that lets the light in. A few years ago, I developed cataracts. This is a condition where the lens of the eye grows cloudy and doesn’t let the light in. Everything starts to become dim and blurry. When you can’t see, your don’t know where to go. “When your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness”, to quote Jesus.

Thus you can see why the writers of the Bible would place great importance on protecting the apple of the eye. The psalmist cries, “Keep me as the apple of the eye…” There are enemies all around and I need to see clearly. As the writer of Proverb says, I need to keep the Lord’s teachings as the apple of my eye; keep my focus on what the Spirit is saying to me. I need to see clearly the direction that the Lord has for my life; His direction for today.

Therefore, Lord, keep me as the apple of your eye. Let me see clearly your will for my life today. Let me see and comprehend the schemes of the enemy so that I may not be led astray. Let me see clearly the path around the evil plans of the evil one that I may walk in your ways. In these days we need to see clearly because deception, “fake news”, is all around. We need to discern the truth and teach those around us the truth as well. So, keep me as the apple of Your eye and hide me in the shadow of Your wings.

The Sons of Koran have set Psalm 17 to music, which is quite interesting:

https://youtu.be/MjazfFvqsig?si=GOB7DsIYzgFnWPH5